Coat hanger



June 21, 1960 T. A. SEEGRIST 2,941,705

COAT HANGER Driginal Filed June 17, 1954 mmvron. E THEODORE A. SEEGRIST COAT HANGER Theodore A. Seegrist, Box 223, McLean, Va.

Original application June 17, 1954, Ser. No. 437,385, now Patent No. 2,873,053, dated Feb. 10, 1959. Divided and this application June 20, 1958, Ser. No. 743,441

2 Claims. (Cl. 223-98) This application is a division of application bearing Serial No. 437,385, filed June 17, 1954, issued as Patent No. 2,873,053.

This invention relates to a wire coat hanger of the conventional type having a base bar and two side bars forming a triangle with a hook extending from the apex thereof. A usual hanger of this type is quite flimsy so that it will not adequately support a heavy coat. Also the base bar is so thin that hanging folded trousers over it results in creasing the trousers at the fold line.

The present invention provides an attachment for the hanger comprising a rod of rigid material which is detachably positioned above and along the base bar of the hanger and held thereon in a manner to form a rigid structure.

For a detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a wire coat hanger with the attachment in installed position, part of the attachment being broken away for illustration purposes;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom View of the attachment;

Fig. 4 is a side view of one end of the attachment with the Wire hanger in a position prior to its installed position;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is an end view of the wire hanger with the attachment in a position corresponding to Figs. 4 and 6.

Referring to the drawing, the hanger, of conventional design formed from a single piece of wire, has a base bar 11, two side bars 12 and 13 joined to the base bar to form a triangle, and a hook 14.

The attachment is a single piece rod having a longitudinal groove 21 in its bottom surface 22 in which groove the base bar 11 fits. The rod has side surfaces 23 and 24 and is longer than the hanger. It may be made in various lengths to fit various size coats and support the coat at the shoulders when the coat is hung on the as sembled hanger and attachment. The rod is rounded at the top surface 25 for supporting folded trousers hung thereover.

The end portions of the rod are similar and only the one shown at the left hand end of the Figs. 1 and 2 will be described in detail.

One of the side surfaces 23 has at each end portion of the rod a vertical groove, such as shown at 27, which communicates with groove 21. Groove 27 has an undercut portion forming a longitudinally extending projection 28 adjacent the mouth of the groove and a longitudinally extending projection 29 at the other side of the rod laterally spaced from projection 28 with a lateral shoulder 30 between the projections. The distance of shoulder 30 from the corresponding shoulder 31 at the other end portion of the rod is such that when the attachment is in its installed position the shoulders engage tightly against the side bars 12 and 13. This tight fit and rigid character of the rod imparts rigidity to the assembled hanger and attachment.

The lateral shoulder 30 is formed to contact the side bar 12 only at the upper corner 26 of the shoulder, lateral shoulder 31 being correspondingly formed relative to side bar 13. The end portions of the rod at the lateral shoulders thereby wedge tightly between the side bars and base bar thus to fix the attachment securely in its installed position.

The attachment is installed by first positioning it on the base bar 11 rotated from its installed position as illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. The side bars 12 and 13 are then sprung over projection 28 and the corresponding projection 32 at the other end of the rod. There is sufficient resiliency in the wire hanger to permit this manner of making the installation.

It is preferable that the rod be made of wood. Mill ends can he used for the purpose thus utilizing a frequently wasted material.

I claim:'

1. The combination with a wire coat hanger having a base bar and two side bars forming a triangle, of a trousers hanging attachment for the hanger, said attachment comprising a rod of rigid material having up per, lower and side surfaces, one of said side surfaces having at each end portion of the rod a vertical groove with an undercut portion forming two laterally spaced longitudinally extending projections with a lateral shoulder between the projections, the rod being detachably mounted above and along the base bar with each side bar of the hanger fitted between the spaced projections at the end portion of the rod adjacent the side bar, the lateral shoulders at the two end portions of the rod being a distance apart to engage tightly against the side bars, thus to form a rigid structure with the upper surface of the rod adapted to support a folded trousers hung thereover, said rod being longer than the base bar so as to extend beyond the side bars for supporting a coat at the shoulders when the coat is hung on the hanger, each longitudinally extending projection adjacent the mouth of the groove being of such length that the rod may be installed by positioning it on the base bar rotated from its installed position and then springing the side bars over the longitudinally extending projections into the installed position.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the lateral shoulders contact the side bars only at the upper corners of the shoulders, whereby the end portions of the rod at the lateral shoulders wedge tightly between the side bars and the base bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,386,059 Potoczky Oct. 2, 1945 2,524,978 Humphreys Oct. 10, 1950 2,591,234 Burns Apr. 1, 1952 2,665,829 Tillery Jan. 12, 1954 2,687,243 Rasmussen Aug. 24, 1954 

